Mandy Nolan

Why is peace so hard? As the assault on Gaza resumes I am reminded of the quote by Albert Einstein: ‘Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding’.

What scares you more? The impact of warming by 1.5 degrees that results in drought, famine, heat stress, species die-off, loss of entire ecosystems and habitable land and 100 million people being thrown into poverty? Or a hundred or so activists in a kayak?

When I was six years old my father was killed in a car accident. By then I had witnessed countless incidents of domestic violence. I had seen my father physically and verbally abusing my mother. I had been locked in a room for safety, only to have the door smashed in with a chair. I’ve seen my mother pushed. I’ve seen her punched. I’ve heard her crying and begging. I’ve felt the fear. I’ve heard people whispering about me. I’ve felt the shame. 

I am scared of heights Which is ironic because I’m six foot tall. And I wear heels.  And I’m a Capricorn. It appears my destiny is to inhabit high places. It’s a weird fear. I don’t remember ever not being terrified. As a kid I don’t recall anything in particular that set it off. Except maybe Mr Fredericks, the old man across the road, dangling me by my feet from his verandah for fun.

Children are magical. They arrive innocent and new, a chance for humanity to have a fresh start. An ordinary result of human biology and the propagation of the species. Nothing quite prepares you for the miracle of that moment.

Everywhere I turn there are conversations about someone dealing with extreme mental health issues. Friends, family, young people, older people who are struggling. People reaching out looking for services that sometimes aren’t available, are booked out, or aren’t helping. We are sad. We are scared. We are worried. We are lost. We need to find a way through.

I love Madonna. Not her music so much. It’s not my jam. She’s such an incredible artist, that doesn’t matter. Because she is more than her music - she is iconic. I love her. I love how brave she is. I love how relentlessly authentic she is. I love how she doesn’t give a F. I love how she doesn’t listen to the dominant narrative. I love how she becomes the narrative. I love her sense of play. Her lack of shame. Her ability to stand in who she is and radiate positivity. It’s powerful. And it’s unique.

On 15 October I woke up profoundly sad. Like many people in this region, I’d been committed to supporting the Uluru Statement from the Heart by campaigning for a ‘Yes’ vote. We ran a cohesive positive campaign that embodied the core value of truth-telling. But it wasn’t enough. The results were deeply shocking. It felt hard to believe that this modest request could have become such a divisive issue.

On 15 October I hope this country wakes up with a ‘Yes’ for the Voice referendum. In putting forward my view, I have been savagely trolled. I’ve had some opportunistic ‘No’ people use my platform to prosecute their agenda. I have not gone on the page of ‘No’ supporters. I have not abused them. I have seen the proliferation of misinformation and the use of fear and conspiracy to inflame uncertainty and to keep Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people voiceless in our colonial system. So this week I have asked my nephew, Levi Murray, a Wakka Wakka/ Kubi Kubi man to share his insights.

I’ll admit it. I was a Russell Brand fan. I thought he was funny. I thought the sexually rampaging lothario image was just a clever comedic persona. I thought he satirised the privilege and legacy of rock stars.

Offsets don’t work. They have become a licence to pollute. What we actually need is a reduction in carbon emissions, not carbon-emitting industries to greenwash their impact by investing in a solar farm or planting saplings. While it’s nice to know that big polluters are keen to invest in green industry it would be better if they just stopped polluting. You know what’s better than offsets?

There is never nothing we can do.  There are just people who do nothing. With a world that is not on track to meet its climate targets, in the face of government failure it is the community who must act. It is time to do something. Right now in Brunswick Heads our wild heathland is calling.

Tijuana Cartel, the renowned Australian musical collective celebrated for their pioneering fusion of diverse genres, proudly presents their latest masterpiece, Alectura.

The Australian Child Maltreatment Study found that almost 1 in 4 Australians experienced one or more types of contact child sexual abuse while almost 1 in 5 experienced non-contact child sexual abuse. Almost 1 in 10 Australians experienced forced sex in childhood. How do we continue to fail to protect our children? What is broken that we need to fix? What is systemic that we need to smash?

Don’t grab women by the head and kiss them. It seems obvious. But the patriarch had to stake his claim. Luis Rubiales, the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation just broke Christmas. And I’m pissed.

The last day off I had was June 23. The next one is sometime in September. I was wondering the other day why I was feeling a bit tired so I checked my diary. Oops. Apparently they invented this thing called the ‘weekend’. Ostensibly it was to refresh the worforce. Or at least give them time to yell at their kids, mow the lawn and wash their undies. And maybe go shopping. There’s no point to a capitalist system if you don’t have time to spend your money or get into debt. Or cut down old growth forests. Or up your carbon footprint.

Ryder is a forest activist. After the floods he spoke at a climate rally in Sydney in front of 5,000 people where he called for an end to fossil fuels. He is a forest protector who runs ‘tree listening’ tours in our local forests and was part of the citizen scientist group that found giant trees that had not been protected in Doubleduke State Forest. This led to the Forestry Corporation having to stop logging. Ryder is 10 years old. 

FIFA Women’s World Cup is having massive positive impact on girls all over the country. It’s telling girls they are powerful. That what they do is exciting. That the world is watching them. And when the world is watching, it’s watching them for their skill. Women in sport are exciting and commanding massive audiences.

I remember going to the bank as a kid. It was an austere place – because money was serious. Banks designed themselves a bit like confessionals. The teller was your private priest of poverty or prosperity. Everyone spoke in hushed tones, so when you withdrew $2.50 from your passbook your fiscal sins were private.

Black helicopters will arrive and bring the US under the control of the United Nations. Water condensation trails contain biological and chemical agents sprayed on the population to lower fertility, give them cancer and make them compliant. International elites control governments, industry and media. These include Jewish people, and NGOs such as The World Economic Forum.

As a little girl nothing compared to the smell of a new Barbie. It smelt like love and ambition. It smelt like a new job. Independence. I remember the pink of the box. The shine of her blonde hair stapled to cardboard. Her tiny pointy feet pushed into stilettos. Her giant nipple-less breasts screaming to the world that she was an unashamed sexual icon who clearly wouldn’t be breastfeeding. It seemed like a very sexualised toy for a kid. I think that’s why I love her so much.